sri sarvepalli radhakrishnan

September 5 is celebrated as Teacher's Day as it is Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's birthday and he is regarded as one of the finest teachers.

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णु गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः
गुरु शक्शात परब्रह्मा तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः

Guru is the representative of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He creates, sustains knowledge and destroys the weeds of ignorance. I salute such a Guru.

Guru is the essence of life and it is only through a guru that we are what we are today. The first Guru or teacher in our life is our parents. They teach us, take care of us and nurture us to be good human beings ready to face the world. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Our mother teaches us to follow discipline and rules while our father teaches us to learn the importance of values and respect in life. Each parent has his or her role to play and ideas to contribute. We are students in every step of life. As children, we learn from parents.

Then we step into school, here we learn from our teachers. They are our ultimate Guru. We learn the basics of every language from our teachers. It is indeed a pleasure and privilege to be with such learned people who selflessly teach us the art of calculation, the beauty of the surroundings and the history of the world. Teachers are gems and we cherish them forever.

Then we step out into the world and begin a career. Our boss is our teacher. Our team leader is our teacher. We learn to take orders and bow down to the requirements of others. We fall into place in a groove that is called work, we realize the importance of all the values, and rules set down by our parents at that young age. Suddenly, the discipline of putting things back in place, of going to bed on time, of praying when we wake up, all begins to make sense. We realize that time is money and we stop wasting time. We begin to obey at work. We grow.

As we move further on in life, we settle down to a happy family life. Our spouse becomes our teacher. We learn a lot from him or her. She or he comes from a different background and we learn the art of adjustment and compromise. We share, care and begin to learn to share our personality with another person gradually we become parents. Life has come a full circle. Our learning does not end here. We begin to learn from children. Child is the father of man. We begin to behave ourself, we stop swearing , we do not indulge in bad habits, we start being focussed towards family and togetherness more. We learn. We learn from children . They are our best teachers.

As we grow old, we look back and sit on a rocking chair rocking our experiences back and forth. We realize that Teachers are Gems, they are important and they are here to make us what we are today. If I had not had a good teacher and you had not had one, then I would not be writing here today and you would not be reading me,...We are all students of one common teacher - LIFE...Life is the biggest teacher.

So this September 5 when day dawns, let us all salute this ancient and experienced teacher of ours - LIFE and make this world a paradise with the fruits of teaching spreading out all over.

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